ProseKnitic – of Words und Wolle

Socks

I managed to finish the first chain link and started the second. I still have work to do on the heel, but the toe came out just as I wanted. Grafting 30 stitches is not hard after doing several lengthwise socks. I really like the lack of ridges on the sides, now to just make the bumps a bit smoother where the wraps occur.

This makes the 7th sock since the start of Summer of Socks 2007.

The rest of the day was not exciting, except for one of my colleagues stopping by for lunch, just to make sure I was doing ok. Otherwise it was errands day. And nothing in the mail.

-Holly

Nothing like sitting here after a post is launched and saying – oh. S*, I forgot to add the last part.

Blame it on the Siebenschläfer – nasty little critters. They are done hibernating and dancing in the ceiling and playing in the walls. Since they are a night active creature, their best time is in the middle of when I should be sleeping.

Arches

The streets were close to empty as we walked past the synagogue in Tel Aviv that day. Plain cement building, nothing fancy, but arches to the sky.

! שבת שלום

-Holly

Speculative Fiction has some basic requirements: the author needs a world view, a style that matches the view, and a clear direction to project that vision for the reader.

For the one rare book which has a positive spin on the future, there are 20 or more in which pain, wars and urban blight figure prominently. I am not sure what that says about how we view the future – lack of optimism, or the sense that you need high conflict, massive wars or Armageddon to sell books.

I have a preference for clean, clear prose. Sentences that pull you along, action in words. I read for entertainment, escape, pleasure. I gave up complex literary fiction after University. This is not to say that I do not enjoy works with several levels of meaning, but simply that I take no joy in wading through sentences longer than Thomas Mann or Göethe simply to find that a trivial character walked from the public transportation location to a garden building.

Look at Elizabeth Bear, Holly Lisle, David Brin CS Friedman for current authors. Think of Huxley, Asimov, Blish and early Card for other examples.

Thirteen pages of prologue with wordy, complex sentences lost my interest by the end of the third page.

Backstory should come out as part of the action. As a reader, an author should assume that I am intelligent enough to follow the plot line. If I wanted to know every colour and texture of fabric and building, I would be reading Regency Romances, not science fiction. Internal ruminations of the various characters might be interesting to some, but not paragraphs worth. Deadstock by Jeffrey Thomas had been recommended to me. His Punktown is an interesting world concept, but certainly not original. The basic story should have been told in 75 pages, not the 414 worth of turgid prose with a 5:1 ratio of adjectives to nouns.

So I am seeking something else to read this weekend, or will go back to my audio books so that I can knit at the same time. Have not been particularly successful at doing my PT while listening. And it is going better, leaving only some ache after each session.

The 1645 EC from Stuttgart arrived with the three teens on board, home for the weekend.

My buds are now blossoms:

But I don’t have a clue what they are.

Stitch Markers

There is not much you can do for Pirate fans except feed their indulgence. These wonderful indulgences were made by jlyarnworks.  Not just strung on wires, but they are handmade tiny sculpey (or fimo?) skulls. Since I had wanted something for socks/lace, small size for small rings was important. There is even one with an eye patch to mark the starting point.

Humm – I bet she can make fasteners for my up coming Kauni Sweater……

Socks

The first chain link is almost complete. I am working on both an alternate heel and a toe modification. A few pairs and I should be ready to share.

Then, my STR Sock Club arrived yesterday. I really like this one, both the colours in the yarn and pattern.

Coming home from shul directly after the potluck (early for us) it was nice just to be able to curl up in my chair.

 ! שבת שלום

 Holly

Through a lovely quirk, I discovered last week that StashDiva was planning a bit of time in Heidelberg. And here I am on my con leave, actually home and able to get together. Although her blog has been quiet recently, she certainly got ahead of the sock knitting curve (pix) for the 52 Pair Plunge and is still going. Who else knit 12 pairs of socks by 20 April? Not me, I managed 10 for the entire month (and was not sick of sock knitting, the only impressive part).

I got to show off our renovations as part of the disaster house tour. All that remains for boy teen’s room is one last coat of paint, the molding above the floor. And where the extra door was removed will be built into a bookcase.

The meeting this morning on the bathroom that was left like this -

solved most of the problems. That huge box that holds the toilet tank will be reduced by half. Simply by changing the location of the toilet flushing mechanism from front to top will reduce the whole fixture by close to 40 cm in height. I think we can live without the throne. It certainly is the most economical solution of all those we reviewed.

I have only been in the Reykjakiv Airport and never actually in the city or country. It was interesting to talk about Iceland while having soup, bread and cheese. Hey, I am a bent wing bird here, cutting up the potatoes, carrots and smashing the tomatoes was about my limit.

After lunch, we had her boyfriend happy with his laptop plugged into the LAN.

That let us free to settle in with knitting.

Happily chatted about kids, knitting, yarn, cross-stitch, quilting and, of course, socks. I completely lost track of time. Just think, to live in a country where everyone knits. Where you have to be careful to check with other family members when knitting for a new grandchild so that the new parents get a variety of knitted things, and not too many of any one item. Audio books were also a common enjoyment – multitasking is great. Even though I know about downloading audio books, it was good to talk to someone who has been doing it regularly. Gives me an option if I don’t want to want for weeks on the mails. English language anything is just not easily found here.

Sadly, I had to let them go and DH gave them a ride to Bismarckplatz.

Meeting StashDiva gives me just one more reason to visit Iceland. Lopi, knitting, great scenery, and of course, friends with whom to knit.

Socks

On to the heel on the chainlink

-Holly

The pink buds are opening.

As are the yellow. But they aren’t -

yellow that is.

The S1 from Heidelberg to Landstuhl goes through valleys and the Pfalzischer Wald. Trees, old mountain peaks, and streams dotted with small towns. The two plaques guard the door to the Bahnhof, just so that you know where you are.

Socks

With all that time on the train, I finished the Sea Dragons. Ankle sock length again. It makes the tops just spin by, but the foot then feels like it takes forever.

60 stitches around. Pattern repeat is 6 stitches across and 14 rows long. needles 2,5 Colonial Rosewoods (I love the sharp points)

Between Neustadt and Ludwigshafen while talking to a wonderful woman and her son, I cast on for a pair of Chain Link Socks out Monarch Sock Yarn – Hott colorway from Angora Valley. I absolutely adore this yarn. It is high twist with little of the blur out that some dyers seem to have. The colors are intense and pure – even in the lighter coloured skeins of which I have several. And her pricing is great.

Now that I am home, it is back to the Sockapalooza. And hope at 81 I am that sharp, with good conversational skills and a memory full of history coupled with the ability to make it come alive for others. Even if we (her son and I ) could not convince her that the German word for gasoline or petrol – Benzin – hat keinem Zusammenhang mit dem Motorenbauer Carl Benz.

-Holly

Up front – I am not a gardener. I love the grounds surrounding our house. The patch of grass that needs to be mowed is tiny and I keep forgetting about it. We don’t have any flower beds, just extensive perennial green stuff – plants, ground cover and bushes that are almost no care.

When the jungle gets too bad the DH takes out large pruners and wears off a lot of energy. I bring him drinks, sympathize and stay as far away from the work as I can.

Other than the rose, I have no clue what most of these are, but I have things with buds. Soft pink to shades of red on several different kinds of bushes. They look beautiful in the evening light.


By tomorrow, I might even have some blooms.

Sockapalooza4

Taking a deep breath, I took it out again and even entered it as a project into Ravelry. Looking carefully, I figured out where in the 24 row repeat I was, and managed to finish the first full repeat and start on the second. My plan, at the moment is to complete three full repeats of the smaller tulip (the back) before starting the heel. My pal asked for “not terribly long cuffs.” The larger tulip will continue down the instep. Since I will get there in the next day, I have to figure out what I want to do with the heel. Perhaps leave a bit of the loops running down each side, ending right before I start the heel decreases.

Socks

My rest up knitting is the Sea Dragon. I made good progress today, finishing the first sock and starting the second. And I went ahead and knit top down. I find I have a serious issue with insuring length of the foot with toe up that I do not have with top down. Perhaps it is just that I have knit so many socks in the standard methodology that it all the decreases fall into place automatically. Ah, well, perhaps it was the instructions. In any case – sock progress and pattern detail.

Tomorrow I head to Landstuhl via train. Computer to get fixed, Hail & Farewell to attend and packages to mail. And 100 knitting minutes each way. Good deal for me, even if it means that I am starting out before 0700 in the morning.

-Holly

The sun is setting late – and the light was glowing golden this evening about a quarter to 10.

Marit posted about their Midsummer Night Bonfire on the 24th.

It put me to thinking about 1998 and my six months in Bosnia. As a relatively senior officer, I was invited to a lot of official functions. One such one was Midsummer at SweBat for food, bonfire and music.

The US method of running a bonfire would be to plan it all out, publish an order which assigned every last bit of responsibility, from perimeter set up, through extinguishing the bonfire. And everything in between with regulations about what you can and can not burn. Probably would have wanted to have the fire inside a barrel and have everyone 1/2 a mile back.

The SweBat commander asked one of the NCOs to take care of it. The troops gathered all the stray wood and anything else that looked like it would be fun to burn; making a huge pile. They rounded up a couple of fire extinguishers. At the end of the short formal program the commander made an announcement along the lines that “fire is hot and if you are stupid enough to stand too close you are going to get burned.”

That bonfire burned for hours, lighting up the comradery and music. It was never out of control and those present brushed off the occasional flying ember. I am sorry I didn’t have a camera then, it would be nice to have pictures.

US Rules and Regs vs Swedish common sense and personal responsibility.

Socks

But this what you really wanted to see.
First – the Jacarandas are finished. I love both the color and the simple but great pattern.

Next – since I am on a Chameleon Colorworks roll, I cast on for the Sea Dragon socks. The pattern is a knit-purl combination that only really appears when the sock stretched out. And surprise, it is a toe up sock. I am following the pattern for the first sock, from figure 8 cast on through short row heel. Depending on how it goes, I just might do the same for the second sock.

Two teens headed back to school, and the third catches the 0806 in the morning. I survived my PT today. And we will not talk about Bahn Cards. Maybe tomorrow when I have recovered from the latest round.

-Holly

Today turned out to be a lovely and quiet day. Other than dragging out teens to do chores on a regular basis, I sat out on the terrace knitting on socks while listening to books on tape.

That is after we tore the house apart trying to find a tape recorder, boom box, cassette recorder, anything that would actually still run. There seems to be something about gears, doors, and directions that stop functioning after a while. Anachronistically I like the tapes. I have to get up, move around and turn them over on a regular basis. Just can’t manage that with a remote control.

Socks

First – the completed pair. I am rather pleased at how they came out. I also from this yarn, have been able to figure out how to dye a red, white and blue yarn that would have a field of blue (and maybe a few white specks) contrasting with red and white stripes. On the list for next weekend I think.

Now, I just have to figure out how to get them to the SGM in Wiesbaden for his 4th of July party.

Next – yarn, details, and sock from the May Chameleon Colorworks Jacaranda pattern and yarn. The youngest recommended only two pattern repeats rather than three. It seems like shorter cuffs are just the thing when wearing glitzy socks with shoes. Tall means dorky and athletic. How am I to know? It has been a long time since I have been a teenager. These were knit on my standard 2,5 mm needles. The pattern is a repeat of 10, so I just followed the basic pattern suggestion of 60 stitches. I hadn’t done a garter stitch heel in a long time. It feels like it will be comfortable, my only concern is the added bulk.

Not napping, no not our Elena. She is guarding the dining room door.

-Holly

It was either when I was at Graf that I made a major miscalculation, or perhaps it was today. But I went into our bathroom, took a look, then measured. When I was finished, the rest of the family at first thought I was completely out of my mind. Now, I am not sure what I thought before, but where fixtures look to be right now is not where I agreed they would be.

And the attempted rational discussion from my DH in DC and Boston Airports did little to placate me. There were major assumptions made on both parts that are just not working. These have to do with swinging doors on showers and on location of toilets. The job of the people in plumbing and fixture stores is to sell things. And those items are normally the ones that they stock. I understand his point about having to make decisions and I was not there.

But when one size or shape of an item does not work, the first thing that occurs to me is to try another size or shape, not to change the location. We are still at the point where changes are possible, at least as far as fixtures that were not going to be available for 6-10 more weeks. It will take more tile with my new plan, and he will get a bigger shower. It is not all bad.

And yes, I am at that point where I am wondering why ever wanted to start this project in the first place.

Spinning

Now, I am trying to figure out of this Le Tour de Fleece is the same as the other. In any case, a day later with a clear head, it still sounds like fun.

Socks

The american flag coloured socks are almost complete. If I don’t finish up the second toe tonight while listening to the last of a JD Robb cassette, it certainly will be completed first thing in the morning.

Next up will be the May SOM – Jacaranda from Chameleon Colorworks. The eldest put in her claim for this lovely lilac merino/tencil yarn.

Knitting

By the time fall arrives, I want to have this cardigan knitted. As is common with popular projects, the Kauni Cardigan has a KAL.
My yarn is coming from Astrid’s Shop in the Netherlands. I have chosen EC and EM as my two colorways.

My exercises are a bit easier today, the kids walked and bathed the dog, and Lean Mean 13 was a real hoot.

-Holly

Feeling sorry for myself as I read Yarnstorm’s visit to New York City and our favorite Canadian grad student’s wanderings in London , I tried whining to the oldest. My unsympathetic daughter reminded me that I had chosen to stay home this week, rather than go with the DH to Washington DC and Boston.

Oh. Once nudged, I do remember him inviting me along and me demurring, not sure how I would be doing after surgery. The teens reminded me that they are perfectly old enough to watch house and dog for a few days. And I feel stupid for second guessing myself now that it is too late. There is also this slight issue of renovations on the house and my being too cheap to spring for airfare when the money could be put to better use upgrading the armature for the shower.

Sigh.

So I went cruising around the internet after enduring a torture session in physical therapy. Congratulate me, I have discovered that it is possible to create pain in my shoulder where there was none before my the judicious application of range of motion exercises and a cheerfully smiling PT technician. I am supposed to continue this fun several times a day at home and go in again on Monday. Glad I did not toss the large bag of ice.

Spinning

As you might have noticed, I have joined a lotfew knit-a-longs, mostly related to socks. In order to balance out, I am joining le Tour de Fleece. This is the spinners equivalent of le Tour de France where we spin our wheels while the riders spin theirs. Even better, I am even on the right time zone to catch most of it live. Organized by Star it seems like a fun thing to do. Perhaps I can call it therapy? Or at least stash reduction. Starting 1 July on TV and spinning wheel near you.

Socks

It never ceases to amaze me how long it takes to knit the boring foot on a man’s sock. And this is for a guy who only wears a size 11. I#ll finish it up tonight. The colorway is American from the lavendersheep. knit in 4/2 Ribbing on 2,5 mm needles over 72 stitches.

Audio Books

Arriving in the mail today was the latest Stephanie Plum Novel by Janet Evanovich. I am already through the 3rd of CDs and finding it a real hoot.

Arches

Through the open door to the hof, a riot of flowers climbing the trellis.

שבת שלום

-Holly

Seems like everything might be working (and thank you being willing to help test the comments, it looks like they all made it through), expect for the upload ability. That seems to still be out to lunch. Doesn’t matter much here, but it does make a difference when I am on the road.

Socks

The Summer of Socks starts tomorrow. The Sockapalooza will not count, and neither will my Kews, of which I have the first completed.

since they were started before this time period starts. From the solstice to the autumnal equinox, there are going to be hundreds of us devoted to the knitting of socks.
It is not a competition thing for me but more of a personal challenge. I have three months to see how much of my sock yarn stash I can use. What I can make for family and friends as well as for myself.

Here is the start of my projects:

Isn’t it a nice variety to start with? Some merino, some standard sock yarn, and a bit of seawool.
Now I have to pick patterns. The Lavender Sheep American (first ball) is going to be 4/2 rib and will go to my friendly Sargent Major who really wanted a pair of socks for the 4th of July. The Cherry Tree Hill Loden is going to become Vinnland from AntiCraft. Noah has put in a claim on the Lavender Sheep Mech (Ball Three) so I will find a simple guy pattern.
That just leaves the Red and Black Merino which I think is Monarch, the Bordello Sea Wool in Jester (Ball Five) from Fleece Artist, Vampire from the Sweet Sheep Project Specturm (Ball Six) and finally Wicked from All Things Heather (Ball Seven).

Oh, yes, I also have my May Chameleon Colorworks lavender lace pattern than I haven’t photo’d yet and the June STR kit on the way.

But if any of you have a favorite pattern that might go well with one of the above, suggestions would be great.

Now, if I can just get up the courage to try out one of the other plug-ins, I could even set up a couple of gallery pages.

-Holly

It seemed like such a great idea this morning. A s a matter of fact about 0930, right after the DH left for the airport. I have this theme that came with a built in template for Photo Galleries. Would it not be nice, I thought, to be able to easily have a page for the Arches, and a page for the 30+ pairs of socks that have come off the needles so far this year. Deceiving myself and ignoring the fact that I have been putting this off – I jumped in with both hands on the keyboard.

Pulling out the template, going to the developer’s blog, and reading it five time, it still did not make sense to me. PHP? Haven’t learned it, but I am fine with HMTL. The instructions just weren’t clear. But, he had a plug in! Hey, I can do plug-ins. This is WordPress. Download, unpack, and FTP.

Piece of cake.

Just a few minutes later I had it installed, pages named and pictures uploaded. Then it happened. Blithely hitting the “view the blog” button I got the Word Press equivalent of that lovely WinDoze blue screen of death. Blank – total and complete white out. Didn’t matter what I tried – I could not get anything to appear in my browser.

An hour later I had moved enough things around to get some of the screens to appear (let me tell you – SmartFTP is well worth paying the subscription).

It is getting warm, I am getting crabby and this was not how I had planned on spending my day.On the terrace was the plan.

See that nice lounger? And I was going to wow you with my sock progress. (two whole rows on my Sockapaloolza and to the toe decrease on the Kew became the reality). Actually, I had planned a few cm on the Sockapalooza and finishing the first Kew, then casting on the second.

Instead, I sweated out two hours of updating WordPress to 2,2 in a vain attempt to rid myself of wonderful new restrictions on page changing and posting. Instead, it got worse. Every time I rid myself of one problem, another nasty little error unmasked itself, creeping in to join in the fun, trashing me further.

I ate Java Chip (Starbucks) ice cream at 1430 in a desperate attempt to console myself. I had a pile of files on the server and no blog. None. Nothing that would load, nothing I could reach and not enough knowledge to fix it. I couldn’t post and changing one too many parameters got me in a worse fix than the previous hour.

Have I mentioned that the lovely dudes who are diligently working on the master bathroom and DSs bedroom downstairs were stomping around all day? Making horrible quantities of noise and otherwise spreading dust with their cheer.
At 1700, the youngest two arrived home not interested in cleaning, working, or listening to me scream. They are off till Tuesday, taking away my quiet, solitude and ability to snivel unobserved.

Since the site was not reachable, I just took it down and for the next two hours downloaded what was left for an archive then rebuilt from scratch.

And it still did not work. My stubbornness kicked in. Really, there is no way that a simple program should be able to defeat anyone skilled enough to construct socks. I mean, really.

Of course, it helps if you don’t misspell something in the URL

Which I discovered after spending another hour removing the previous attempt and trying again.

This time was the charm.

I salvaged the database, finally managed to delete the pages from the album attempt. Since that still had its own files locked I wasn’t home free. Would you believe that I can’t upload pictures through WordPress? But I can drag and drop courtesy of FTP and I am hanging it. I wrote to the developer of the plug-in to see if he can give me any hints. A really nice guy, I don’t think the hijack was deliberate.

If I was a drinking woman, I would be 1/2 way through a bottle of wine by now. As is, I am hanging it for the evening and going to go swing my arm.

I would really appreciate a couple of you trying a test post and emailing me (proseknitic at yahoo dot de) if it doesn’t work.

-Holly

Being brave, and not having called ahead of time, I took a chance this morning and at 0730 just presented myself at Physical Therapy. Lucking out because someone canceled, I was seen and out of there – the next three future appointments in hand not that much later. As a visual person, I was relieved match my estimation of pain against the pictures on the 0-10 scale and confirm that I was a “1″ at worst.

Thirty minutes at the medical library computer and I was hiking home. In a rare show of intelligence, I called my DH for a ride when partway. It was much warmer now than earlier and sweats were not making me feel terribly happy.

Quilting

The Chaos Quilters meet the third Thursday of the month, and this was my chance to host the meeting. There have been all too many times where I wind up sent TDY at the last minute and have to cancel. Last year I did the June meeting and had an ice cream social. Seemed like just the thing to do again. The group is comprised of ex-pats, a few Germans married to Americans and a few of us currently associated with the military. Kristin is probably the most serious (professional) of the group, and I the least. She has several exhibitions a year as well as teaches. I am more than happy to crank off the occasional gift quilt of simple pattern meant for the floor and the washing machine.

What we are not, is large and formal like Heidelberg Hearts & Castle Guild which I belonged to the first time we lived here. Couple of hundred members and formal membership meetings.

But tonights group had a good time relaxing, eating ice cream and chatting. The DH who did not take the hint to go else where probably got more of an earful than planned. He does not have a complete sense of humor about jokes involving guys and remotes.

Socks

Since I did not have any quilting for show and tell, I pulled out the last half dozen pairs of socks. And the entire group really thought the pattern I had developed for the Sockapalooza was good. Now, if I can get the pair on the needles finished, I might be up to the challenge.

As I do arm dangles and pendulums to entertain myself. I am already impatient and it has not even been a week. This is not good.

-Holly

The weather is about to break, today’s lovely temperatures caught up by thunder. Lightening streaking white from heavens to ground. Lighting up the patio with flash and flare, stark white against the just darkening sky.

Inside, shelves of books are reflecting back at me doubled as I watch nature’s show.

Pulling out the Zara (135m/50 gm), I am going to restart my Cottonwood Vest with an ink blue for the contrast color.

and finish up the first of the Kews.

That is, if PT in the morning does not finish me off completely. I think my not needing pain meds to this point is about to end.
-Holly

mondegreens – in this case, misheard lyrics (not parodies) that acquire new meanings.
It is not
Put the lion in the coconut, drink it all up
it is -
Put the lime in the coconut, he drank them both up….

Or take the coconut and give it to your 16 year old son. After putting in some holes and draining it, he found breaking it was easy; just fling it against the wall. Right. Just what I wanted, pieces to pick up and wash. But it seemed to make his day.

Knitting

I noted a discussion on Bockstark about reskeining yarns. I like hand-dyed and handpainted yarns. But I like them left in the original skein. I like seeing the length of color change. I can measure it, I can measure the skein and know the repeat length. It lets me plan my socks or other garments to as to best make use of the color. And what is going to happen with different numbers of stitches and gauges. No, skeins may not be as pretty that way, but I can tell better what will happen with the colors. In fact, after some really fugly socks, I have stopped buying yarn that has been reskeined. It takes work to do that, and I am then paying for something that is going to slow down my decision and design process. But if you want pictures of pretty skeins of yarn – the München crew has started a Flickr group.

Otherwise I am doing a lot of reading. And probably more typing than I should. Back to the slow knitting in the morning.
-Holly

I am trying to be good. Not over do it.

I only knit the heel and about 3 cm of the foot on the first Kew.

Loaned the camera to the eldest when she brought me home made cheesecake.

And read

-Holly

Is not at all like the sound of one hand clapping.

I can knit, for short times at least. But it is not easy at all. I did mention that I am quite right handed?

Thought so, along with my tendency to over do. Meet my jailer-

Along with the rain, I managed four trashy novels, 1/2 a pattern repeat on Kew

Arches

From Barcelona, the pillars holding up the ceiling melt from one arch to another, each medallion unique.

Thank you all for the well wishes. I think it is time to get DragonSpeak up and running!
-Holly

There were plenty of trucks on the Autobahn early this morning. Even so, we got through the construction zones to the pre-op area by 0630. The nice people made me comfortable and stuck me full of holes. Since part of that was a scalene block, it could have been much worse. The resulting floppy arm hanging off my shoulder is still asleep.

Being home is good. Men really don’t always know how to help, so I am releasing my DH back to his computer and getting some sleep. Typing with one hand is a real pain.

Not the sandals, but the socks made the journey with me into the operating room to keep me warm and safe.

-Holly

With the rain we have had, it has turned green again with plants exuberantly growing.

Slugs are marching around, chocolate brown instead of white to distinguish them from their cousins with homes upon their backs.

Socks

And, since I was stuck this morning participating in a pre-op treasure hung for lab, EKG, and signatures at Landstuhl, I needed a sock that I could pick up and put down. Kew as a matter of fact. The yarn is Merino/Tencel Seacoast Handpaint in colorways Summer Berries. It is just lovely. I have Embers + Coal & Fire still in my stash.

My show time in the morning is 0630. I even get to bring the DH, since I had to sign a paper stating that someone was taking me home and that I was not going to be alone for the next 24 hours. I am not a good patient, I would much rather be alone. But I have not figured out how to drive a standard transmission right after getting my right shoulder fixed. Doing something that stupid would defeat the purpose of the surgery. At least that is my story, and I am sticking to it.
Expect not much more than an – I’m alive – tomorrow evening.
-Holly

It has been years since I have driven home from Grafenwoehr. What I realized, after the first 50 km of mindless driving was that the last time I had done this, home was Würzburg. A3 is not the same Autobahn as A6. And in any case, Regensberg is on the way to neither.

Blindly following signs to the Autobahn when exiting a post is not always a good thing. Neither is driving a car without maps. Not having a Y Chromosome, I suppose I could have stopped and asked for directions, but I still had diesel in the tank. And a reasonable knowledge of geography to tell me that A93 was going to take me to a junction with A6 if the detour signs could be believed, just a good hour longer than planned.

Audio Books

I had dropped off all but three audio books at the library prior to departing Graf, picking up a couple of new ones for the road. They were boring, so best left unmentioned as I shoved them through the slot at Heidelberg on the way home. I finally settled on another Diane Mott Davidson for the last three hours of the drive.

Home

Walking into the upstairs bathroom, it is completely stripped and the new pipes are ready for fixtures. I had forgotten how much dust can be generated. But at least the tiler won’t be blasting while I am home whining and complaining next week.

But it is still nice to be home, especially with a warm welcome from the dog.

Knitting

I am so far behind on reading blogs it is over whelming. Two weeks is a lot on RSS Feeds. And all the things I want to say, but won’t unless I can link – most of us never see delayed comments. Perhaps over the weekend I will get caught up.

Sockapalooza

Yes, I am much happier with the Loüet Gems. The higher twist gives a clearer pattern. The lighter color is more distinct and the combination of sport weight and 2,5 mm needles is giving me a gauge for the 72 stitches around that actually might fit someone other than my tiny footed friends in Australia!

Tonight I get to sleep in my own bed, not sharing a barracks room with 12+ others. No loud mattresses or people snoring. No live fire exercises booming in the background.
It will be wonderful.
-Holly

Everyone has returned from the pause. Those who were released to go home for graduation ceremonies this weekend are back at their desks, along with all of those who spent the weekend out on the various firing ranges and tables. Everyone has dried out from the rain that blew through.

There are SIGACTs being handled in all sections and everyone is extremely busy. I am winding down as I head back home tomorrow.

Audio Books

The aid station was a lovely place last evening. Fairly quiet and lots of electrical outlets, staying light outside till almost 2200.

I managed to save the last Rex Stout, Nicolas Sparks’ Three Weeks with my Brother and Jonathan Rosen’s Joy Comes in the Morning. Of course, everyone around me thought I was nuts. They could not hear the last of my saved Lime & Violet Podcasts.

Socks

The African River Bend socks are finished. Anni creates wonderful patters and participating in Sockamania has been a trip. Now if I can just get my pictures to post, I will be happy. These were knit in Merino/Tencel sock weight on 2,5 mm needles in colorway Tiger.
Hence the name change.

Sockapoolza

Liliac is such a wonderful color for Tulips. But the gauge is too tight. Or, the gauge may be perfect, but my sockpal is never going to be able to get these on. Do you think I can get her to shrink her feet?
Rather than drive farther down the socks, I decided to try out a skein of Apple Blossum Loüet Gems.

Here is the Back and Front, just to refresh your memory. That first sock will fit a 7″ ankle. And just how many of us have legs that tiny?
-Holly

But not me. I am not out on the range or tables getting soaked. Of course, it was not raining when they left this morning before 0800 packed like sardines into the blue bus to bounce over back roads on their way to the day’s adventure.

Instead I hung out, killing off a mandatory on-line course that was reputed to take 2 hours, max. Not in this lifetime. Almost six hours later, I have my certificate and a list three pages long of all the inacuracies and inconsistencies in the lesson plans. Why am I concerned? Someone brilliant idjut just decided that everyone in MEDCOM is going to have to do this course before the end of July. And it is out of date.

Another military requirement for your training and edification. Sheesh.

Graf Tower

The symbol of Grafenwoehr, the Tower rises out of the trees as you exit the training area for the civilized area of the military installation.  The library sign proudly mentions their former location in the Tower.  The architectural style is typical for the region with stucco and external dark wooden beams,  carefully replicated on the major buildings across the rest of the post.

Knitting

I am also a knitting toy nut collector. I like cases for dp needles that safely store a good quanity while protecting the tips. This particular one came from the Timbertops folks. I obtained it several years ago when they had a booth at the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival.

I also have three that match this lovely little needle case that I purchased in an Oslo Husfliden on my last trip.

Even tho the site is only in Norwegian – if you follow the links for garn (yarn) the gauges for Rauma and the other yarns that they stock are posted. The Butikker tab lists a number of their stores across Norway, making it a good starting point if you are looking for traditional patterns or yarn on a visit. And then there are all the supplies for Bunad (traditional costumes). Lovely pictures those.

Audio Books

James Patternson’s Exile is on the MP3 player and Linda Palmer’s Love is Murder on the car CD player. I am off to listen and knit the second River Bend sock. Picture tomorrow. Promise.
-Holly

Like families, military operations have certain key words or phrases that become inside jokes. What is common, although not obvious, is that most of the word play and slaughter starts with a non-English language word.

Take cache. It means a collection of something tucked together to keep it safe.  A hidden store of things, or the place where they are kept. Weapons, for example. In English, the trailing “e” is not pronounced. Then there is caché, French in origin, that relates to fashion and desireabilitydesirability.

Like families, military operations have certain key words or phrases that become inside jokes. What is common, although not obvious, is that most of the word play and slaughter starts with a non-English language word.

Take cache. It means a collection of something tucked together to keep it safe.  A hidden store of things, or the place where they are kept. Weapons, for example. In English, the trailing “e” is not pronounced. Then there is caché, French in origin, that relates to fashion and desireability. A certain way of dressing has caché.

But I don’t think you find a weapons caché.

 ”Words mean what I meant them to mean, neither more or less.”

Obviously, I was not clear last night. I don’t have one of the Coleman mattresses, I have a small padded matt that has an air component. It is quiet, comfortable and offers protection from the wire framed bunk. It is the people around me who are driving me nuts since you can hear them everytime they turn over [all night]. And rearranging yourself inside a sleeping bag is neither quick nor simple.

Socks

Rib on the Side from Fiber Trends is finished.  The yarn is Apple Laine. I love the colors; they are clear and stunning. But I did not consistently enjoy the yarn quality. There were a number of sections where the ply seems to splay out, or that the diameter was uneven. This could be the yarn, or the combination of dying method with the yarns. 

You can see what this fraternal pair of socks looks like. Obviously, you could knit them as a regular pair. I am positive that you would not have enough yarn to accomplish this with only one skein of each color. The heels make a nice contrast. The inside of the sock is also not bad, but I hate weaving in lots of ends.

After realizing that I did not have any more blue along with me, I changed streams [insert groan] and changed to Tiger for an African River Bend. I love this colorway and the subtle color changes. I am not likely to have the ability to upload pix tomorrow, so you will have to wait to Monday. With any luck this pair should be finished.

It is fairly quiet today, we are sort of on a pause-x. What it really means is that I should do some laundry.
-Holly

Have you ever slept on a Coleman blow-up air mattress?

Let me give you a hint – these are about 6 inches thick when blown up. Air distributed between a number of cells. And it is not possible to punch or push it into shape much less nestle yourself down into a nest. It is not form fitting. It is sleeping on top of a thick plastic covered balloon.

What you can do instead is make an incredible amount of noise while you settle yourself on it, trying to be comfortable.  Driving everyone else in the room around the bend.

Socks

The yarn for those orange/pink broken rib socks is Dicentra Designs in Sunset. At 375 yards for 4 oz, it is slightly heavier than the traditional sock weight yarns. Composition is 50% wool, 50% alpaca. I am not going to be wearing these until the weather gets cold.

 I have the cuff completed on the second rib on the side, but no pix. Tomorrow, I promise.  What is even more wonderful is that Anni managed to mail out the June pattern – River Valley socks will be up next. And I have lots of choices with me.

Audio Books

I am finding the Rex Stout mysteries featuring Inspector Nero Wolf interesting. I would be happier if my computer was willing to transfer CDs to my MP3 player at a rate faster than 3-4 CDs an hour. I am not sure what is going on with the interface between the CD Rom drive and the software, but it is driving me nuts. Right up there with Norton warning me that my virus files need to be updated. No kidding, but I am not hooked to the Internet.

Arches

Or sculpture with same. Since I am out in the field, for the second Friday here is another military relevant arch.

Taken at the DMZ Museum, perhaps the world could be put back together.
-Holly

What normally happens after a few days in the field is that tempers start fraying, especially as the temperature rises. With the new ACU, the only authorized way to wear the uniform is with the sleeves down. As a result, staying out of the sun can be an excellent idea. Just in case you were wondering, opening the windows and having a fan can really make a difference. These are German buildings. Doors and windows provide climate control and air circulation.
Altho not the buildings in which we are running the exercise, this is billeting.

Socks

I have made some small progress on the first Rib on the Side.

But the Orange/Pink multi Broken Rib are finished.

In case you are wondering what kind of a weird building is full of tables with put up chairs – would you believe the MWR area in the middle of shift?

Audio Books

Have you ever noticed that some of the Audio Book Companies are getting cute about their CDs? It seems to be too much to ask: after all – who could possibly need large, clear font lettering for the name of the book. Much less the Author. And to make it even more fun, why don’t we make each one of the CDs a different color?

Not Rex Stout – with Gambit, or Might as Well be Dead  of the Nero Wolf Mysteries. Nor will you find such a thing when the author is Lawrence Sanders – McNally’s Bluff or Stephen White – The Zero, or Stuart Woods – Short Straw.

But let it be a “woman’s type book” such as Evanovich’s Love Overboard, or even Diane Mott Davidson’s Dark Tort and there you go. There has got to be a message. Pink, purple, lilac and deep rose CD labels? Please, give me a break!

We don’t see the inside CDs when you order or buy an audio book. And it certainly for me would not be anything but a negative in deciding whether or not I would want to listen to a book. One with multicolored disks and cutesy colors says to me that it should not be taken seriously. That there is not the respect accorded to the author, much less the listener.

You can’t tell me it is to make my life easier to recognize which one comes next. They should have numbers on them, and be in the case [initially] in order. If you can’t read, how do you know which color comes next? So that argument does not wash.

And it is not women authors, in case you were wondering. Anita Diamant – Good Harbor – has plain, parchment colored CD labels (Simon & Schuster) that are clean and professional. It just leaves me with an attitude that certain types of genre are being put down.

Off soap box!
-Holly

Shapes repeat across the landscape in early morning. Some peaks for the body, some for the spirit.

It has kicked off, the Mission Readiness Exercise for 1AD. Rather than being a rated exercise, this is designed to help a unit find the holes in their policies and procedures and fix them before deploying. There is also the small issue of the non-reality of exercise play while the real world continues over-laid on the actions being handled.

I am hoping to be able to get out and upload pictures again tomorrow.

Over all, we are working well together. With the way the shifts are running, I should be able to even make Shrek 3 at 2000.

Socks

I am around the corner on second pink/orange stripe sock of the pair that I started yesterday

Then it will be back to the Rib on the side and deciding what comes next. I have some lovely tiger colorway, a multi-color blue, and then…. I really should get back to Sockapalooza!

Audio Books

I have listend through Nora Robert’s Eastern Shore Trilogy plus Chesapeake Blue. And have started on Evanovich’s Thanksgiving. I have to pull the other five cases out of the car and start loading them. It is so nice to have choices.

-Holly

Military

This is our last day of preparation, and the exercise goes hot tonight. I figure to be getting enough sleep, unless one of the controllers is completely off the wall and decides to start something stupid in the middle of the night. But my ability to get out to a computer with picture uploading ability will be restricted. From here I am making a commissary run for the group, never can have too many liquid caffeine and other legal drinkables available.

Knitting

Interesting website, followed by the strange. I don’t often post such things, but there are a couple of places to visit. There is the Thread Banger site with the Top 10 Geek knitting projects. More importantly, there is Socks for Soldiers if you are looking for a way to combine knitting and support of deployed troops.

Socks

First – Rib on the Side – the first cuff is done. It doesn’t look like much when it is flat, but it is quite expandable. Now I just have to pick up on the one side for the heel and carry on. And if my brains had been in the right place, I would have calculated the length of the cuff and shorted it by 14 stitches as I don’t like really long cuffs on my socks.

And then there is the Broken Rib sock I started when it was too dark to work on the other sock. Somethings can be knit with little to no light.

I forgot the dyer of this lovely wool/mohair/nylon blend. I will post it tomorrow.

Audio Books

Trading in the last five audio books, I picked up six more from the Graf library today. It should take me only a couple of days to save them. This is much faster than requesting them from the Landstuhl Library, and waiting what seems a life time for the next book in a series.
Even though there is an after hours drop, the audio CD cases don’t fit through the slot in the right hand drop off.

I’ll update the reading list tomorrow.
And thanks for the comments and well wishes. Field duty for me is more fun than the rest of the team, but I am not under deployment pressure like the rest of the crew.
-Holly

The bus is a Thomas, rather than a Blue Bird but the principle is the same. Rows of hard narrow seats that you can hardly stay on as the bus corners, just the same as in childhood. Never large enough for teenagers, those seats barely old soldiers geared up for the range who wedge themselves into the cramped space.

Formerly of school bus fame, the recycled, repainted hulks now seem to grace military posts around the world still fullfilling the function of moving unwilling bodies from one location another in discomfort.

Socks

The Victorian Lace are finished. Since I am not planning on wearing these with sandals, I ended the lace partway down the top of the sock and finished it with 4×4 ribbing.

And here are the two colors of Apple Laine that willl be the Rib sideways socks.

The official color names are Hey Baby and Royal Blue.

After that pair, I need to return to Sockapalooza.

 -Holly

It has been another quiet day. Switching to 24 hour ops means that there are fewer people hanging out in the room. Still does not mean that we have a whole lot to do till the formal part of the exercise kicks off.  Everyone is wandering in and out, getting basic chores done and being bored.

As a result, I am turning the heel on the second of the Victorian Lace socks (pair started yesterday) and will probably finish them yet tonight.

And I have a line up of people who want socks. The SGM says that he gets his first. The deputy would rather have a helmet liner. Someone else wants to learn how to knit her own socks and hats to have something to do on long shifts. Meanwhile, I returned from lunch to find this pile of papers sitting next to the computer, with feet traced on them and names. No specifications as to patterns and yarns. Am I evil enough to start on all the pink and purple that you saw in the stash?

No pixs today, will not have the opportunity to upload anything till the morning.  But I have decided that the next sock pair up will be Ribs on the Side from Fiber Trends. I have picked out a solid and a multi of Apple Laine that I picked up from The Loopy Ewe. I am contemplating whether I will bind off the cuffs as directed or Kirchner the legs.

As far as the critter, the more I think about it, the more I agree that the feet look like a Washbaer (Racoon for the common language). The only thing I am not sure is how likely they are to climb up on vehicles. I know that we have a lot of foxes out here, along with a significant number of ground rodents and deer. The tick population is amazing and disease carrying.

I think I will not argue, but just wash it all off and see if it comes back.

 -Holly

Camp Algiers

There seems to have been a night time visitor to my vehicle. Maybe more than one, I was not able to tell with exact accuracy, but some four footed critter used my car for a launch pad to the top of the nearest building.

There are known to be foxes, voles, rodents and other critters, but I can’t see them climbing. And there has been no signs of racoons in the garbage cans. But the tracks may have slightly too angular pads to be cat. Anyone with a good guess is welcome.

The crew has gotten more considerate, quieter. Perhaps their lack of sleep is finally catching up to them. Either that or I have successfully intimidated a whole building of people. Scary thought, that.

Knitting

Forgot to flash the stash. Since everything all arrived at once, I now have a grand selection of solid color sock yarns including Loeut, Cherry Tree Hill and some STR.

The Victorian Lace is progressing well, I should have pixs tomorrow.  The Fire on the Mountain has thrilled everyone in our section. It is certainly bright and colorful. To me it equally could have been named crayon or rainbow. So if you order it, don’t be surprised. 

Audio Books

I am up to the Letter G in my Grafton retrospective and just loaded Taken at the Flood and Witness for the Prosecution of Christies to the MP3 player for evening listening.

Military

We are in our last days of doing paperwork before switching to 24 hour operations. What is my role? Whatever the unit needs me to do. I am perfectly capable of taking over night shift and knitting all night, but probably will be on days.

Socks

 Since this was the first of the month, I pulled the new pattern for 6 Socks Knit along – called Victorian Lace. I have already picked out some Sea Socks yarn from Fleece Artist and will start them hopefully later today once the Fire on the Mountain are finished.

This is Fleece Artist in color way Angel. The pattern is going to be Victorian Lace by Lorri Ann Romesberg.

Arches

Imagination and congruence. Arches from the live fire range

Instead of my normal selection of architectural features for Friday.

-Holly